


Dull

by aikoa



Series: as long as we're together, doesn't matter where we go [3]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Anne Boleyn Is Not A Ditzy Crackhead, Books, Good Cousin Anne Boleyn, Headcanon, I repeat, Katherine Howard is Embarrassed, Reading, anne boleyn is not a ditzy crackhead and is indeed quite smart, smh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:40:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26632258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aikoa/pseuds/aikoa
Summary: The struggles of hardly being able to read in the modern day world, courtesy of one Katherine Howard.Featuring Anne Boleyn as the helpful cousin.
Relationships: Anne Boleyn & Katherine Howard
Series: as long as we're together, doesn't matter where we go [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888639
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43





	Dull

**Author's Note:**

> Katherine mentioned to Henry in one episode of The Tudors that she is hardly literate, and all of a sudden this happened.

"Why do you find those dreadfully long novels so be even the slight bit interesting?"  
Katherine Howard asked one morning as her eyes fell upon her cousin reading one more in the drawing room.

"I don't know," Anne replied honestly, "I suppose I just like reading about all the things that had happened after my quite untimely death,"

"They are so much better things to do then sit and read all afternoon," Katherine groaned, Anne chuckled as her cousin draped herself over the sofa back dramatically.

Anne pulled her off to sit properly next to her, and situated the book so that one side sat on one of each of their legs, "but wouldn't you like to learn of what you missed?" the raven-haired beauty asked, "come, read that page and tell me if you still think it is so 'dreadfully long' and uninteresting,"

Anne did not notice the way Katherine seemed to squirm at the idea of reading. She didn't know, Katherine thought, she doesn't know how stupid I am.

"Hm, I'm fine, thank you very much," Katherine said quickly, making a face before bolting up the staircase and into her bedroom. Anne frowned, most certainly noticing her cousin's quick dodge away from the novel that the pair of them previously held. Had there been something in there Katherine had read that upset her? Nothing on the page that Anne had requested the teenager read had anything that even mentioned either of them in any way. How odd, she thought, how odd indeed.

She carefully laid the now shut book onto the cushion of the sofa before standing herself and making her way up the stairs, only stopping when she made it to the fifth bedroom down the hall.

She softly knocked on the door, "Kat?" she called through the barrier.

"What, Nan?" came her stuffy reply,

"I-, I just came to see if you were alright? You ran quite suddenly, did you read something that upset you?"

" _No,_ " the blonde replied, "That's the thing, I-" she cut herself off. Anne could hear the soft padding of feet on the floor before the door slowly opened, just a crack, revealing a glimpse of Katherine's face, with a red circle already having found it's way under her blue eye.

"I _can't_ read," she said solemnly. Anne's eyes widened.

"You... can't?" She asked hesitantly, "but, you've written and read letters before, I know you have,"

"That's _it,_ " she said, "That's _all_ I know how to do. I can read enough to write letters, but, I can't read any of those books you or Catalina or Cate read. Even Anna can read better than I, even if it's only in German"

There was a moment of silence when neither of them knew what to say after that,

"I can help you," Anne offered then, "If you want..."

"You don't need to waste the afternoon with me because I'm so unintelligent that I don't even know how to read _or_ write," Katherine rejected quietly, "you can go chat about your new findings with one of the others. At least _they_ would know what you were talking about,"

She made to close the door, but Anne slipped into the bedroom before she could.

"Anne," Katherine groaned,

"I really don't mind," Anne insisted, a pestering smirk making her way onto her lips. Katherine then realized Anne would never stop bugging her about this until she agreed or screamed at her to get out, and she _really_ didn't feel like going with the second option at the moment.

"Fine," the teenager gave in, folding her arms over her chest. Anne gave a small hum of victory before scanning the room, in search for anything that they could start off with.

Her dark eyes eventually came upon the hard-covered novel that had been brought over with Katherine at her reincarnation. _The Byrth of Mankynde_ by one Richard Jonas rested smoothly on the bedside table across the room. Anne approached and picked it up, quickly scanning through the pages before holding it up to her cousin.

"Where did you get this from?" she asked curiously, Katherine's face contorted into remembrance for a split moment.

"Oh, yes," she said, "T- s-someone I knew before gave it to me, as a gift,"  
If Anne had noticed Katherine's hesitance to answer, she did not speak on it.

* * *

"You are not nearly as awful as you believe you are," Anne stated after awhile. The two of them had since taken refuge on Katherine's bed and had been sitting against the headboard for about the past hour, book spread across their laps as they read through the gifted novel in front of them.

"But I still am not well," Katherine replied stubbornly,

Anne laughed, "Here you are making me think you are the least literate person in the entire world," she said, "No, you are hardly worse than Jane,"

"So I am still the worst in the household?"

The elder sighed,  
"By God, cousin, you must quit being so hard on yourself. If you continue to allow me to assist you, you will surely pass our little imp of a relative in no time,"

Katherine couldn't help but giggle at her words,  
"She doesn't stand a chance".

**Author's Note:**

> The Byrth of Mankynde was the book Thomas Culpepper gave Katherine in Season 4 Episode 2 :')


End file.
